Laptop in school question.

[Ineedmorepatience]

It looks as though Dd3 is probably going to be given a laptop of some kind when she moves to secondary school!!

Does anyone know if she will be taught to touch type or do you think that will be left to me??

We have tried a program but she found the voice really irritating.
She has SPD and hypermobility so its not going to be a walk in the park

If school were to teach her it would be much better but she doesnt have a statement (we are appealing a NIL) So I have a feeling school wont want to.

The indie EP says she should be taught to write and not given a laptop!!

So much to think about [I need an overload emoticon]

You should be able to get a book to help with touch typing, containing exercises.

I agree that they should still be taught to write alongside using the laptop.

English type junior - best £30 you'll ever spend. Start on level 1 no matter what age the child is. Written by an ed psychologist... All real words, teaches home row first... practice EVERYDAY about 10-15 mins, they can get really good really fast. Suitable incentives for doing it everyday may sweeten it initially as it does take a lot if motivation to do it everyday.

best prog around in my opinion. have 2 children both with special needs both can type well through using this. One uses as primary method of recording now.

very unlikely to get school to do this everyday. Really worth investing time on this at home. Perfect summer hol project. .

Thanks tiger and mama.

I will look at the typing program there was another one mentioned on her a while ago but I cant remember what it was.

I will do a google

M/s primary did touch typing interventions - there were usually other funded DC doing the intervention so it was zero extra cost. A laptop however was a different matter as ct did not prepare lessons to be taught on a laptop and it's use was never somehow appropriate and this is not zero extra cost.

Thanks keep I am guessing that it will be a similar situation for Dd3, I cant see her being able to access using a laptop in class.

It would be beneficial if she could use it for homework but again the homework is going to have to be diferentiated for her.

I am just thinking she is going to end up carrying it around but not being able to use it!

There are no lockers in school so that is another thing we need to think about! She has enough trouble keeping a pencil safe, never mind a laptop

Mavis Beacon is really good. You can get older versions of it on ebay very cheaply. The speed building games are good because you don't really realise that you're practising.

My DS (going into Y10) uses a laptop, more like a netbook, in secondary school. He has never learnt to touch type but can two finger type much quicker than he can handwrite. He started off using an Alphasmart Neo in primary school, age 8. So I'm no help on the touch typing!

The laptop only seems to get used if there is some extended writing to be done. School have never been that great in planning its use into lessons. DS can manage perfectly well with worksheets and copying notes from the board but his writing is slow, printed and hurts his hand quite quickly. He has ASD and unDXed Dyspraxia. The laptop is used as an incentive to get him to produce enough written work in assessments (and all homework except maths!) so that there is enough to mark. I'd say handwriting is still needed for a lot of the time.

Secondary would let DS borrow a laptop from the SEN dept when needed, but he kept forgetting to get it so I gave up and bought him a secondhand netbook from EBay. This is small and light enough for him to carry around all day. I have to remember to keep it charged. I think tablets are the way forward, but they were out of my price range and I think an actual keyboard is better. Netbooks didn't get popular enough and tablets took over the market so they are hard to find. Shame, because they are a perfect tool for school, like a mini laptop but much too slow on the Internet for DS to get distracted.

Thankyou streaky and ellen

Dd3 has the problem of her hand hurting when she writes.

The most she has ever managed at primary was 2 sides of A4 and that was spread over 3 days and was something she was interested in!!

I suppose we will have to wait and see, what the school come up with, I am worried that the "Robust Transition" that was recommended by both the SENDIST tribunal panel and the EP's hasnt materialised and we dont even know if she will be given a laptop or any one to one and we havent even received a copy of her timetable which we were promised.

I think we are in for a rough September

I think it's probably best if she learns to type and gets used to that as her normal way of working. That way she'll have use of the laptop for exams as well as in lessons, and that'll mean she'll do better in exams.

Ds can only write for a few minutes before his hands hurt terribly and the writing is illegible. He'd be nowhere without access to a keyboard. It's also useful for organising work - I don't know what your daughter is like but ds is terribly disorganised and using the laptop means he can edit his work rather than having write essays in structured order. He can start with the conclusion and work backwards, if that feels better for him, and that makes a huge difference to the quality of his output.

Yes streaky That is another problem isnt it, Dd3 struggles with ordering events verbally never mind writing them. Her written expression was on the 3rd centile when she was tested in November and the 2nd when she was retested in June!!

If she is able to edit her work she will be much less anxious about it.

Am away this week but will look at touch typing programs when I get back.

The EP has written on the report that she will need more time in tests so hopefuly that will get sorted at Secondary.

I have an older copy of Mavis Beacon and I can make a copy for you want to try before you buy.

If the EP has noted she'll need more time it looks promising that she'll get the right support in place for her exams. In the meantime, it doesn't hurt to look at JCQ's Access Arrangements page to familiarise yourself with what requirements you need to meet to get the right support in place here. The guidance changes every year so it's a good idea to check it again from time to time. It's usually a SENCo's job to make the arrangements but some of them aren't very good at it , so it's handy if you can point them in the right direction.

Ooo, yes please streaky. I will pm you my address

The SENCO at the new school does seem very switched on and I am pretty sure that the HT would be pushing for any child who could potentially get better grades with some access arrangements put into place!

Having said that I did have confidence in the SENCO at the primary school initially and look where that got me

My experience has been that when you entrust someone else with a task to do with your child, you add to the risk of it going wrong. It doesn't hurt to know the ins and outs of a situation for yourself, so you can prod your delegatee in the right direction if needs be. Certainly the SENCo needs to compile the paperwork when applying for access arrangements, but they can hardly object to an involved parent doing some of the donkey work on their behalf while keeping an eye to make sure it's done properly .

I had an excellent supporting letter from ds's consultant psych, which explained in general terms how his condition was known to affect processing for all concerned and how it applied specifically in ds's case. it would be useful if you could approach your daughter's medics and get something similar. The JCQ chap I contacted was very helpful and more or less told me exactly what he needed to write.

Yes I agree, I am at the point now where I really don't trust anyone related to school

I had very bad experiences at school and this has repeated itself time and time again since I have been advocating for my children.

All 3 of my girls have SN's in one way or another and I have yet to find any senior management in schools who actually do what they say they will do!

And we have so far tried 6 schools so its not that I havent tried to find somewhere where the staff are trustworthy.

The amazing Paed that we found last year who has a special interest in girls with Asd is leaving the NHS because it has ground her into the floor and so we don't know at the moment who will see Dd3.

I have asked my GP if he knows anyone else with a similar interest but am not holding my breath.

At least I know what I need to do, thanks to this board and that I can only rely on myself to do it now!!

Thanks for your help

It's awful when we can't trust the people who are supposed to have our best interests at heart, isn't it?

And yes, it's a shame when good professionals (and they are few) are forced out of their roles because they can't provide the best because of boundaries that are set by their superiors. Most of the time it doesn't even make sense .

Ultimately, the only people we can trust to really care about our children is ourselves - we are the only ones without an agenda and nobody else to answer to.

Reading MN is such an eye opener for anyone who doubts that the education system (particularly relating to SEN) is full of flaws. Almost everyone has a horrible tale to tell, and even those with good provision have usually had to fight for it .

Yes you are right, yesterday I prepared my second lot of appeal paper work for SENDIST We won our refusal to assess tribunal but now have to go back to appeal a NIL which is worth nothing to Dd3.

As I said in my email to the Director of childrens services in my LA, I will keep fighting for Dd3 because if I dont she wont survive and will become a total school refuser.

I think the education system is totally corrupt and with all the new stuff coming in LA's will have even more opportunity to try to con parents who dont understand how it works!

Tbh it's one of the things I've found most positive about HE - not having to answer to anyone else and their interfering cock-ups that cause so much harm. I can safely say that in the past six years, every single person involved with ds's support has done their absolute best for him, because that person was me .

We have decided that if secondary is damaging for Dd3 then we will take her out and HE.

The paed who has helped us so much this year has supported us with this by almost giving us permission to throw the towel in with school when everyone else keeps on saying "She must go to school, get her in whatever happens!"

We have some friends who HE and there is a thriving HE network in our area

Dd3 wants to try secondary, so we want to support her to do that but believe me if she doesnt cope she will be out!

I love your paed .

One of our GPs suggested HE to us when ds was in crisis, though we were already considering it by that time. It was good to know we'd be supported.

Unfortunately a lot of children's professionals are stuck in a box when it comes to what they should be doing and what's 'best' for them. The irony is that if an adult were suffering the same degree of stress in the workplace, the advice would be to change jobs and make changes in your work/life balance. I can't work out why we're expected to make children suffer under similar circumstances . It's madness.